The hospital's first day

After his long talk with Med Tiger, Spotty could not resist telling the cubses right away. "Stripes is going to write a book! It's going to be called All Is Ramana, The Self! A most wonderful book, with lots of pictures."

The cubses began bouncing around in joy. "Mum Lioness, will you get it for us? We promise to clean up all our toys. We really will! We didn't before, because ... well, because. But now we will! If you will rush into Tiruvannamalai right now and get it for us. Please Mum Lioness! Shall we call a dragon? We want to come too."

"Cubses, cubses," said Spotty, "Stripes has not quite written it yet. He ommst has."

"Ommst?" asked Arunacub. "How much has he done?"

"Well, he hasn't ackshlly started the writing part -- but he has the ideas ready. He was just telling me all about it."

"Ooooo, I can't wait," said Omcub.

Tirucub looked at the clock. "We'd better dash! We need to open the hospital for its first day. I hope some medical people will respond to our appeal for volunteers."

Then he put his paw to his lips and made a shhhushing sound. "We need to slip past Mama Hippolyta and Crumple and Rumple. We simply can't have them muddying the beds on Opening Day."

So the four cubses and Mum Lioness tip-pawed along, collecting Stripes who was having a swim in a nearby pond. They managed to elude the hippos. They unlocked the hospital doors. Within minutes, quite a few doctors and nurses arrived, all saying that during their early morning meditation, they had seen an image of themselves, volunteering in the hospital.

"So here we are!"

Med Tiger and Mum Lioness looked over their qualifications and gasped a little. One was a heart specialist! Another a neurologist. Tirucub looked over Stripes' and Mum's shoulders and smiled.

Within minutes, patients began to arrive.



Spotty had never ridden in an elevator before. He kept insisting that Med Tiger take him for just one more ride. The two peacock elevator attendents found Spotty too cute to put a stop to this. Each time Spotty and Med Tiger got on, the peacocks politely pretended they had never seen them before.



Upstairs, lots of little creatures were being given wellness checks. Balanandaswami brought in Fluffiswami for his vacinations.



The heart specialist checked out a little tiger cub who had a heart murmur.



Another doctor attended to a little golden retriever who had hurt one of his front paws.



Down in the reception area, things were a bit challenging! Mama Hippolyta was INSISTING that Crumple and Rumple needed to be admitted to the hospital.



"They were seen yesterday, eating large quantities of iddlies and romping everywhere, obviously in the peak of health," said Mum Lioness sternly.

"Oh well, that was yesterday, but today they both feel so sick they could not do a single sum, or clear up any of the broken dishes in your cave, and I even had to carry Rumple all the way here. Poor little dears!"

Behind them in the line up, a baby oragutan was holding his bumped head. The llama receptionist turned her attention to the orangutans. "Please come right this way to have that bump looked at," she said warmly.

"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Mama Hippolyta. "I have been snubbed!"

"Rumps and Crumps can have a turn on the elevator," said Arunacub diplomatically.

Both little hippos did lopsided summersaults of delight over that prospect ands shouted, "Now! Now!"

"Don't over-exert your sweet little selves," cautioned their mother.